SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wellesley College softball team split a double-header against defending NEWMAC Champion Springfield College on the road on Saturday afternoon. The hosts won the opener 3-2, before the Blue rallied for an 8-6 win in eight innings.

With the split, SC is now 12-13 overall, and 7-3 in the NEWMAC. Wellesley becomes 19-5 overall, 9-3 in league play.

In game #1, Springfield took advantage of two walks and three Wellesley errors in the first inniing to take a 2-0 lead. The first run scored on an error, while the second scored on a wild pitch. Wellesley then scored an unearned run in the top of the second to cut the lead in half.

In the bottom of the fourth, SC produced yet another unearned run when Mackenzie O'Dea singled with two outs. She then came around on a passed ball, a wild pitch, and an error on the shortstop. That made it, 3-1, Springfield.

In the top of the sixth, the Blue's Megan Wood smashed a long home run to left field to cut the margin to 3-2. A dropped pop-up on a foul ball allowed Wood second life, and she drilled the home run on the very next pitch. But that proved to be all the scoring in game #1. Wellesley went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.

Springfield managed just three hits in game, as Wellesley's Lauren Goldfarb got the loss, going the distance. Stef Grande allowed only five hits and two unearned runs in for SC. The win upped her record to 5-8 on the season.

In game #2, Springfield was in control most of the way, posting leads of 3-0 after two inniings, and 6-3 after six innings. But the Blue came back with three in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 6-6. The Blue's hot inning included two solo home runs, one by Wood to lead off the inning, and the other a dramatic two-out, two-strike shot to straightaway center by Sam Spiga.

Wellesley got out of a runners on a second and third with no one out jam in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the game to move to the eighth.

In that inning, with the international format in place which had a runner on second with no one out, Wellesley scored immediately when Jessie Haladyna tripled home a run. Then with two outs, she scored an important insurance run on a wild pitch, making it 8-6. SC had the tying runs on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but could not take advantage.

For Wellesley, Sarah Schwartzmeyer picked up the win in game two, stretching her season record to 5-0.

The Pride will next play tomorrow (Sunday) in a make-up doubleheader at Babson at 12 noon. The SC at Babson doubleheader had been scheduled yesterday, but was rained out. Wellesley is back in action on Sunday, hosting Lesley University in a 12:00pm doubleheader.